


Sans and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

by UndertaleThingem



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cinnamon Roll Papyrus, Gen, Pre-Canon, Sans Has a Bad Day, Sans Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 21:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndertaleThingem/pseuds/UndertaleThingem
Summary: All things considered, Sans' days are usually pretty good. He helps his brother, hangs out at Grillby's, cheers people up with his bad jokes and pranks, and does his best to maintain a relaxed, 'chill' attitude at all times. Maybe he's a little sadder some days, or more tired.But he certainly doesn't get angry.It takes a lot to get him angry.And a seemingly unending string of mundane misfortunes all in one day just might do it.





	Sans and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this story sitting around for a while, and it all started--as my fics often do--with a doodle of a particularly grumpy Sans. In the course of drawing, I had to wonder what could possibly make Sans lose his cool (that doesn't involve omnicidal flowers or children), and so here we are. 
> 
> Sorry Sans, I swear you're my favorite. :'D

Sans was not easy to upset. He avoided conflict even more than he avoided doing his job, vastly preferring to joke around and make amends than get into any kind of scuffle or argument. The only times he could remember being angry were few and far between, usually sparked by some rude comment about his brother, and even then it was more a dull burning sensation than any sort of real fury. He was quite happy with his unofficial title as ‘the king of chill’ he'd earned from the Grillby's regulars, partly because it was a pun and partly because it implied he did anything worthy of royalty.

He supposed, statistically, that for all his conflict-free and calm days there’d be at least one where he was not. As he slowly blinked into wakefulness and irritation gnawed at him, it seemed that day was today.

The loud rapping at his door that had woken him up sounded again, and then Papyrus peeked in. “Rise and shine, brother! I’m getting an early start today, so you are too! Up and at ‘em!”

Sans shut his eyes again, then dug for his phone and brought it to his face to check the time. Ow--even the lowest brightness setting was too much for his tired eyes; he blinked a couple times, letting them adjust before reading the time. Ah. It was four in the morning.

Thanks to nightmares filled with static and whispering, he’d probably slept all of two hours total in the latest of a streak of near-sleepless nights; Sans let his arm flop back and groaned. Today was going to be fun, and he meant that with every ounce of sarcasm he could dredge up. But he could nap later, and Papyrus probably had some hilarious thing schemed, so he rolled over and pushed himself up.

“Sans! You look awful!” Papyrus exclaimed once he’d emerged from his room.

“i don’t feel much better,” he replied shortly, but instantly regretted his tone. His eyes burned with fatigue and his bones felt like they might lose the fight against gravity at any moment, but Papyrus didn’t deserve to be the target of his griping. “wait, that’s not true. i definitely feel better with your smile lighting up the room.”

Papyrus beamed. “Fantastic! That is its intended purpose so I’m pleased to hear it’s working! Now, to business! Today will finally be the day I am admitted to the Royal Guard! Aren’t you excited?”

Sans mustered a smile that reached his eyes. “oh man, it’s gonna be the best. a huge ceremony and everything, just for you.”

“Oh Sans, could you imagine?!” Papyrus exclaimed, eyes gleaming as he pictured the scene. “A parade through the streets, confetti raining from every window! The crowds chanting my name as I ride atop Undyne’s shoulders, waving and blowing kisses to my beloved and adoring fans! Yes! With our hard work, that dream will become reality today!”

Sans knew that for all his enthusiasm, Papyrus’ dream would never come to pass. There were other variables that interfered. Papyrus didn’t need to know that though. He never could. “you’ll get it today for sure. you got this. but, to ‘got this’, we better get going, huh?”

“You’re absolutely right!” Papyrus declared, lunging to wrap an arm around Sans’ middle and hoist him up. “Come Sans! The Royal Guard awaits!”

Though Papyrus’ brisk pace aggravated his aching skull, Sans didn’t mind—every step his brother took was approximately three he didn’t have to, and he wasn’t about to complain about not doing something. He was deposited at his sentry station, and waved lazily before his brother took off to fulfill his duties elsewhere. It wasn’t like he hadn’t fallen asleep at his station before, and it was technically before work began anyway, so he had a few hours of shuteye with his name on it. He let his eyes close, leaned the chair back, and felt sleep already embracing him as a snap rang out behind him.

Sans flailed as he fell backwards and displaced himself into a snowdrift some three yards away from his station. The relatively good mood he’d been in had been swallowed by panic, and he glowered as he got his bearings. He supposed that’s what he got for leaning in that chair so much, but did it really have to happen today? Whatever. His annoyance vanished as quickly as his happiness had, and he extracted himself from the snowbank with weary acceptance. It had happened, there was nothing he could do to change it now, so he just had to deal with the consequences. It was basically his life motto at this point.

He returned to his station, eyed the now backless chair, and shrugged before going to sit and drape across the counter. He was pretty flexible when it came to sleep. He folded his arms in front of him, buried his face in his puffy jacket sleeves, and was just drifting off when a voice elbowed its way into his bleary thoughts.

“Uh, excuse me? Hello?”

Sans lifted his head to see a lumpy monster with simpering lips and multiple limbs standing in front of his station, and inwardly sighed. He was a pretty tolerant guy, able to deal with just about any personality his work might throw at him handily. There was only one exception.

“Are you gonna answer my question or not?”

_Jerry._

“’sup. what do you wanna know?” Sans answered bluntly; he’d learned his usual vernacular only made Jerry think he was actually friends with him, and it felt wrong but Jerry was not the kind of guy you wanted to think was friends with you. He was somehow terrible and irritating in nearly every regard; maybe it was some kind of special talent. What was he even doing up at this hour?

“Can you tell me why there’s no wi-fi out here? The signal sucks, it’s like, nonexistent,” Jerry whined, waving his phone with a noodle-like appendage.

Sans blinked at him slowly. A half-dozen joking responses formed in his mind, but Jerry wasn’t even a guy you could joke with. “there’s no signal because there’s no routers here. or modems. or electricity.”

“That’s stupid. Are they gonna fix that or what?”

“dunno. not my job,” Sans answered with a shrug. Jerry lowered a brow.

“Well, maybe it should be. Not like you have anything else to do out here. What’s even the point of sentries, anyway? Just sitting and watching stuff? Sounds lame.”

Sans stared at him, but said nothing. Eventually the unpleasant monster turned and browsed the texts on his phone, leaning against the sentry station and commenting loudly on each message as he replied. Sans kept an eye on him, drowsily wondering when he would leave when he caught the tail end of one of his comments.

“—pyrus is such a tryhard, I can’t believe he actually thinks he’ll get into the Guard by making dumb puzzles all day. L-O-L.”

Sans’ fingertips dug into the wood counter. This wasn’t what he needed, not today.

“Doesn’t he get that like, no one cares? Oh my god. No wonder he doesn’t have any friends.”

Sans narrowed his eyes at Jerry’s lumpy form and hoped he could feel his sins crawling on his back.

“Oh yeah, a new puzzle, so cool! NOT! What a total loser. It's gonna be _so fun_ hanging out with him later.”

“hey kid.”

Jerry turned to look and seemed surprised to see Sans staring at him with dark sockets, but sneered at him. “Um, I’m not a kid, but whatever. What do you want?”

“mind taking your little conversation somewhere else? i’d really appreciate it if you’d insult my brother somewhere i can’t hear ya.”

“Oh, yeah, I forget you guys are related. Whatever, it’s cold here anyway.”

Finally, Jerry ambled away, and Sans sighed. Maybe, _maybe_ , he could finally get some sleep! That would be nice. He slumped down to the counter once more, shut his eyes, and sank into the hazy comfort of a nap at last. But it wasn’t the deep sleep he longed for, and he woke up some time later with an aching back and feeling groggier than he had when he’d gotten up. A sharp pang of hunger reminded him he hadn’t even had a chance to eat anything this morning, but a glance at his phone revealed Grillby’s wasn’t open yet and wouldn’t be for another hour. Wonderful. He laid his head back down, but couldn’t sleep.

He couldn’t believe Jerry was so tactless. Well, actually, he could, but that wasn’t the point. Jerry had his brother’s number, and was apparently pretending to be his friend while insulting him behind his back, and that’s what really had Sans in a bad mood now. Papyrus only ever wanted to be liked, to have friends and be respected—the few things Sans couldn’t provide for him, and that no one else seemed willing to give. The nerve of some people, how could they not see how great, and smart, and cool his brother was? That boundless enthusiasm was a precious resource down here, they'd better appreciate that. He’d have to make sure to do something nice for Papyrus later, but for the moment he couldn’t think of what.

And then he realized he was actually in a bad mood.

The realization that he really was only made it worse. He didn’t want to be this tired. He didn’t want to be this irritated. But most of all, he didn’t want to bring anyone else down by having a bad day. No one needed that, not when so many others struggled to find hope and happiness themselves. He just had to deal with it and hope it would retreat back to the depths of his being where it belonged. He stared out across the empty road vacantly, letting time carry him towards the bright spot of Grillby’s opening in the near future.

The awaited hour arrived at last, and Sans took a shortcut directly into the town’s square, a snowball fight, and a snowball’s trajectory that placed it precisely in his right eye.

The impact stung, and judging by the giggles and hoots around him apparently hilarious. Not one to kill a joke, he made a show of knocking the slush out of his skull like a near-empty ketchup bottle and winked at the kids watching before heading for his destination. But even without physical eyes to damage, it was uncomfortable for anything but air and magic to occupy a skeleton monster’s orbits, and not all the water dripping from his socket was melting snow. He dabbed at it with his sleeve one last time before opening the door to Grillby’s, and hoped he didn’t look too bad as he stepped inside.

A chorus of greetings rose from the other regulars—he took stock with his good eye to see what kind of audience he had today. Lesser Dog was playing cards again, tongue poking out from between their teeth as they concentrated on their strategy; Larry and Red slouched against the counter as usual, and Grillby himself was looking towards him expectantly. Or, maybe it wasn’t expectantly, but… apologetically? Sans glanced over and—

Oh no. Oh hell no.

_Return of Jerry._

He’d wedged himself into Sans’ favorite seat, no less, and was messily devouring a basket of cheese fries, noisily licking his fingers clean, dripping the sauce and scattering crumbs all over the counter. Sans was no bastion of cleanliness himself, but he at least had the courtesy to make sure his food actually reached his mouth instead of go to waste on the floor. This was just gross and rude.

Sans cast about for an alternate seat, and decided on one of the empty booths. Sitting so he could keep an eye on Jerry, he leaned back in the padded seat and massaged his eye while Grillby approached. Sans quirked a brow at him and chuckled as he waited for his order.

“you really think i’m gonna order anything different, g?”

The fire monster shrugged.

“Hey! Fire dude, I’m out of ketchup!” Jerry called from his seat, and Sans noticed small sparks fly up from Grillby’s head. He felt the same.

“Excuuuuuse me!”

Grillby gave him another apologetic look before leaving to tend to his demanding guest, and Sans watched as he placed another red bottle before the lumpy monster. Jerry snatched it and immediately drenched his fries, then set the bottle down haphazardly—it wobbled, fell, and Sans had it in his hand before it could hit the floor. Jerry turned to look for it, and Sans took great satisfaction in his hapless casting about. Grillby returned with a burger for him, and raised a flickering brow at the bottle he’d handed Jerry only moments ago.

“jerry’s ways are gonna ketchup to him,” Sans joked, pleased at the hissing laugh he got as Grillby placed his food on the table. Grillby had high standards when it came to jokes, and getting him to laugh at a bad pun was the best thing to happen so far today. “thanks pal. hope he’s not too much trouble.”

Grillby nodded, and left him to his meal. With it still being so early, the restaurant was mostly empty, and quiet, and warm… Sans found himself drifting off mid-bite, and well, Grillby wouldn’t mind if he rested his eyes for just a few minutes, right? He set his half-eaten sandwich down, leaned back into the booth, and took a moment…

“Are you gonna finish that?”

Sans’ eyes snapped open. He glanced over, and sure enough. Jerry. Pointing at his half-eaten burger like it already belonged to him. What a jerk.

Sans couldn’t help the growl slipping into his voice as he answered. “buddy, the day i don’t clean my plate is a day we’ll all mourn. unless you’re buyin’, go mooch off someone else. capiche?”

It was at this instant that Papyrus made his entrance. Confusion danced on his face when he found Sans’ usual seat vacant, but it didn’t take him long to spot his brother and Jerry at the booth nearby. “Oh Sans! There you are! I had a feeling…. Anyway! I see you are doing the upstanding thing and deigning to give that greasy burger to my friend Jerry! A very thoughtful and wise action, seeing as you won’t be staying here a moment longer! I’ve just had a revelation about the ice puzzle and I need your assistance at once!”

Sans stared, glad the grin on his face was more or less permanent. “sure thing bro. i was just leaving. grillby, you know the drill. see ya later.”

The door shut behind the brothers with a certain finality, and the other patrons cast looks at one another. As Jerry hesitantly reached for the leftover burger, Red and Larry whispered with the bartender.

“That was weird.”

“Definitely. Sans never leaves quite like that. What do you think, Grillbz?”

Grillby was silent for a bit, polishing a glass thoughtfully. When he finally spoke, Red blinked at him incredulously.

“You serious? But Sans never gets mad. You know him better than anyone, you know he doesn’t…”

Grillby raised a flickering brow and nodded.

“Oh. Oh geez. I can’t even picture it, yet… just thinking about it gives me the shivers.”

“Never thought we’d see the day Sans of all people got mad. I’m scared too.”

The skeleton in question shuffled behind his brother, working very hard not to show how he felt inside. He was tired, still hungry, and though he loved Papyrus very much, at the moment his loud, stentorian voice was just too much for the headache pressing at his temples. Not to mention Jerry had butted in on his day twice now and bothered some of his favorite people with his presence; this wasn’t the worst day Sans could remember but it was bad in such a mundane fashion it almost bothered him more.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Papyrus stop walking. He didn’t notice the snow turn to ice, and didn’t adjust his footing accordingly. He didn’t notice anything until he slipped and landed flat on his back hard enough to knock the wind out of him, and then he noticed all too much. Pain danced along the length of his spine, the ice hard as rock beneath him. He couldn’t move, didn’t want to move, his magic raced through him wildly—and there was Papyrus, out of focus and babbling something he couldn’t hear over how shaken he was. He cursed his woeful stats. After all that had happened already, he really hadn’t needed ‘near-death experience’ added to the list.

This was icing on the... oh, and now he was actually _mad_ at himself for punning! Today was _really,_ _spectacularly_ bad. He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the pain to subside and his head to clear.

“Sans, are you alright? You haven’t said anything, and you usually have at least one horrible pun to say for yourself after a pratfall like that,” Papyrus observed as he helped him sit up. “Come to think of it, to my knowledge you haven’t told a single joke at all today! I don’t know whether to be proud or concerned…”

“h… don’t…” Sans wheezed, still breathless. Funny, considering he didn’t have lungs, but now wasn’t the time to question skeleton monster biology. “’m fine. ‘s what i… get for not… paying attention. and i’ve told jokes, just where you couldn’t hear ‘em, heh.”

Papyrus frowned as he helped him stand. “Very well. In that case I hope you’ll pay attention to my puzzle! It’s quite brilliant and I’d hate for you to miss out.”

“of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Sans replied, a spark of admiration managing to shine through everything else he was feeling. Papyrus was just so cool. “ok, lay it out for me bro.”

Papyrus instantly brightened. “Nyeh heh! The sheer genius of this puzzle will astound you, dear brother! You see, should a wayward human approach from the west, they will first encounter this switch… which will activate the pressure pads under the ice! They’ll have to slide to each one in the right order, like so—before they can pass. Now, originally…”

Sans listened to him prattle on, going on tangents about classic puzzle architecture, beauty techniques, and the merits of a scientific approach to dog petting, but only caught snatches here and there. He _wanted_ to pay attention—Papyrus had clearly put a lot of thought into his work, and spending any time with him at all was welcome after the day he’d had so far. But his right eye had begun stinging again, the headache had wrapped around his skull completely, and none of it had been helped by his little slip-up. He was just _so tired_ …. It all hurt too much, and he found his thoughts drifting away in a haze as his brother's voice faded into the background.

“…And there you have it! What is surely the most ingenious, schemious puzzle ever devised! Your praise, brother? ...Sans? Sans! You fell asleep during my speech?! I’ll have to give it all over again!”

“…n-nah, i’m awake bro,” Sans murmured, blinking his eyes open. He wasn’t sure he could sleep now even if he wanted to. He was still shaken from his fall, and tired to the point that being tired was all he could think about. Papyrus deserved better, but it was all he could do to come up with some token praise. “you did great, it’s gonna stump everyone, especially those humans.”

“Nyeh heh heh! As it was designed to! Surely this will get me noticed, and I’ll be leading the Royal Guard before the day is through! I’ll finally have it all, Sans! All the adoration and respect I rightly deserve!” Papyrus boasted, posing proudly—only to be hit with a snowball right in the cranium. He whirled in the direction of derisive laughter, and shook his fist. “You again? Come out and face me, you cowardly lot! You aimless urchins!”

Sans perked up. “…problems, paps?”

“Ugh, it's those pesky roving teenagers. They’ve been tormenting me all morning and messing with my puzzles, but they refuse to face me in a proper fight to settle things. They're... distracting, but they won’t bonetrousle me yet, nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus replied confidently, turning back to tweak one of the pressure panels. “Once they see how cool I am in battle, they’ll look up to me and I can give them the life advice and guidance they need to be just as cool and successful as me!”

“if you can make teenagers listen to you they’ll definitely let you into the guard,” Sans teased, but any reply his brother might have had was cut off by another hail of snowballs—and then the troublemakers themselves stepped out.

“This is our turf, skele-dorks,” a Chilldrake taunted, ruffling its feathers. “Your silly puzzles are bad and a total waste of time!”

“Yeah! Puzzles are dumb!” an Ice Cap added. “Everyone knows cool hats are where it’s at, haven’t you seen mine?”

A brief argument broke out among the other Ice Caps, and the Chilldrake sighed impatiently. Sans glared at them from under half-lidded eyes, but knew Papyrus could handle it easily enough. He’d gotten pretty good at brushing rude comments off—Sans was really proud of him. He'd be fine.

“I pity you, poor teens,” the taller skeleton began, shaking his head. “You simply don’t realize… puzzles are the answer to all your problems! You seek to fit in—I know your struggle well—but by building puzzles, you build the very pillars of monster society! You belong to something grander, bigger, enduring-er than fickle fashion! But! You can enjoy fashion too! You need only to glance my way to see—yes! Papyrus! He really does have it all!”

“Everything except friends,” the Chilldrake jabbed, and their posse giggled behind them.

“And I am working on that every day!” Papyrus replied without missing a beat.

“Here’s what I think of your pillars!” someone shouted, and a glassy attack rained down on the puzzle with a crunch.

Papyrus stared at the damage. “I appreciate your efforts to help, but you’re doing it all wrong! Here, let me show you!”

But the teens laughed, and joined together to break the puzzle further. Papyrus couldn’t get a single word in, and Sans couldn’t bear the disappointment settling into his face as his hard work was smashed to pieces by disrespectful kids. A new wedge of anger drove into him with every crunch and snap of machinery; if they’d messed with him, it’d be one thing, but it was a bad day to pick on his brother. His patience had worn out.

There was a click, and he stood in their midst. “hey pals.”

The troublemakers whirled and stared, dumbfounded.

“listen. you’d be doing me a really big favor if you left my brother alone.”

They were reluctant to answer at first, shifting in place until someone gathered the nerve to speak at last.

“Oh yeah? What do we get back?” one of the Ice Caps sneered, and he locked eyes with them.

“you’re right, a favor works both ways, huh? well, how about this. you leave my brother and his puzzles—which, maybe you should listen to him sometime, he’s a pretty cool guy—alone…” He let his eye lights cut out. “and i won’t have to give anyone a bad time. got it?”

The teens laughed nervously.

“you don’t believe me. that’s fair, i’d rather be the guy everyone can count on for jokes and fun, trust me. but apparently—and no one sent me the memo either—it’s that guy’s day off. get me?”

The teens shuffled restlessly. Everyone knew Sans, if not directly, then by hearsay, and everything they’d ever heard only made him out to be a prankster, a slacker, no one to take seriously. Was he really trying to threaten them? The Chilldrake finally scoffed.

“Psh, yeah, I’m sooooo scared of you! What are you gonna do, pun me to death?”

“nah, that would be a waste of perfectly good puns,” Sans replied. “besides, i’m not in the mood for jokes.”

In a blur, he whipped his hand up, then brought it down. There was snapping, a crash—and a heap of snow came thundering down on the miscreants. They spluttered as they shook free, and stared openly at him. He couldn’t help a dry laugh.

“i know i just said i wasn’t up for jokes, but you guys are looking a little… chilled. now, are you gonna make me move you, or are you gonna move yourselves?”

He tensed his hand for emphasis, and the teens couldn’t leave fast enough. They practically tripped over one another as they dashed past him to flee into the forest; Sans watched them go with a glare, then sighed and let his shoulders sink when they were out of sight. He was so tired, _so_ tired. Everything ached. And he’d lost his cool in front of his bro.

As if to add insult to a day-long injury, there was rustling from above, and more snow showered down to pelt him. Great, so that’s what he got for trying to do anything?

That was it. Whatever small piece of him was still holding it together snapped, and heedless of what his brother thought he spun to march home, eyes dark, his smile more of a snarl. Papyrus watched him stomp by silently, fiddling nervously with his scarf. Sans was too tired to care what anyone thought anymore. He ignored the other sentries as he stormed past their stations, was silent where he would have made a joke with passers-by out on the road. He’d almost made it to town when he heard Papyrus calling after him, and bristled. He just wanted to be left alone.

“Brother! Sans—wait, please.”

Ah, who was he kidding? Sans stopped, though he didn’t turn around—but he couldn’t ignore when his brother used that tone of voice. He heard his steps crunch up beside him, and there was a pause before a hand came to lightly rest on his shoulder.

“Sans…” Papyrus began quietly. “I couldn’t help but notice—and I am the best at noticing—that it seems you’ve had… a bad day?”

Sans tried to make a joke, but only managed a weird, rattling sigh.

“Oh dear, this is worse than I thought! This simply won’t do! Come, brother, I’ll make you some spaghetti to cheer you up!”

Sans, quite frankly, didn’t want spaghetti, but couldn’t bring himself to protest—at least, not vocally. Apparently his tense posture said it all for him.

“Hm. You… seem less than enthused,” Papyrus observed.

Crud, he’d messed up. “n-no, it’s fine bro. i’m just super tired.”

“Mm, well, that much is obvious with one look at you! But…” Papyrus trailed, fidgeting with his hands before settling on clasping them. “…It’s alright. We’ll go home. I need to rethink the ice puzzle as it is, I realized I could come up with something much better anyway! So! It all works out. Maybe I won't get into the guard today, but that's what tomorrow is for!”

If anyone could be counted on to see the bright side of things, it was Papyrus, and that was one thing Sans would be forever grateful for. Another thing he was grateful for was his brother’s willingness to carry him, and considering he didn’t think he could get his legs to move again it was pretty useful at the moment. As if reading his mind, Papyrus knelt with arms open, and he leaned in.

“I’m sorry you had a bad day,” Papyrus said as he hoisted him up. “Do… do you want to talk about it?”

Sans groaned. “eh. tired. hungry. jerry… that pratfall, jerks messin’ with you… too much for ol’ sans today.”

“… Wait, come to think of it… had you only been to Grillby’s the once today?”

“yeah. only got that half burger too.”

“Oh. So. You... haven't even had a full meal today, have you.” Papyrus halted as he thought. “So. Why. Don’t we. Go… to… Grillby’s. For lunch?”

Sans pulled back from resting his head on his brother’s shoulder. “bro?”

“You see! It is yet another expert plan cooked up by me, the Great Papyrus, who is the greatest brother in the world, nyeh heh! There’s no pulling one over me! I know, as much as I personally despise the place, that you love it! And! Being the great person I am, I can set my feelings aside for my dear brother, who has clearly had his day soured by untold trials!” Papyrus boomed as he set forward. “I vow to rectify this travesty at once! That’s the way of the Great Papyrus!”

Despite his brother’s voice still pounding against his head, Sans felt a little better already. It should’ve been the other way around—he was going to do something nice for Papyrus, he didn’t need anything nice done for him—but there was no stopping Papyrus when he’d made his mind up. They finally arrived at the restaurant, and for the first time ever Sans was carried _in_ as Papyrus made his entrance.

“Greetings, fellow patrons! Today is most eventful… because today! My brother! Has had a singularly bad day. So, if you would please treat him nicely that would be most considerate! …We’re sitting down now.”

The other customers murmured as Papyrus set his brother at his favorite seat at the bar—mercifully empty this time—then took the stool beside him. After some conferring with Larry, Red leaned over.

“So, we’ve been talking all morning. We’ve never seen Sans mad before, so… what could rattle the legendary chill master himself?”

“…I don’t properly know! Sans! I know you listed a few things, but… would you care to share what precisely bothered you so much today?” Papyrus replied, turning to him, and he shrugged.

“oh boy. are you sure you’re ready for this tale of woe?”

“It would be most illuminating!” Papyrus offered.

Sans closed his eyes; he at least had energy for this. “ok, ok. settle in folks. so, would you believe me if i told you it all started with me not being able to sleep last night?”

Papyrus made a face while the others laughed. “You really didn’t? No wonder you looked so… bone tired! Nyeh heh!”

An overused pun from an unusual source instantly gave it new life, and the patrons roared with laughter. It did little for Sans’ headache but a lot for his soul, and he couldn’t help chuckling a bit himself. “yeah, i didn’t get forty winks last night.”

He winked for effect, and it worked. At least Papyrus was getting to see what he really came to Grillby’s for—sure, the food was great by his standards, but it was the atmosphere that could really break up a dull day. And hey, maybe Papyrus could feel like he had real friends for a little while.

“so, a bad night’s a setup for a bad day, right? it was a real comedy of errors the moment i got to work—which, thanks to my bro’s incredible work ethic, started at 4 this morning.”

“We needed an early start!” Papyrus blustered while the others laughed. “The early worm befriends the bird!”

Red nodded sagely.

“Go on, Sansy! What h-happened next!” a bleary-eyed bunny called from one of the booths.

“heh, well, here i was, ready to slack off like usual and make up for lost sleep… and my chair broke. back snapped clean off. needless to say… i was floored.”

“I keep telling you not to lean in it!” Papyrus scolded, though he couldn’t hide his grin while everyone laughed. “That does sound like quite the unpleasant surprise though.”

“yeah. you can imagine i wasn’t too happy about that, but hey, i’m an easygoing guy, i can deal. everyone’s seen me fall asleep here at the counter, not like i can’t sleep without back support. thing is, i wasn’t allowed to sleep. we all know how jerry is, amirite?”

There was a collective groan from everyone but Papyrus. Everyone knew Jerry.

“yeah. he was there. kid said a few not-so-nice things about some important people in my life. not what i wanted to hear when my usual good humor is m-i-a. so add that to the stack of things bothering me so far, and then, as i get to grillby’s for breakfast, i land smack dab in the middle of a snowball fight. now, correct me if i’m wrong, but the goal of a snowball fight is not getting a hole in one, right?” Sans continued, slowly getting into the day’s tale. The other patrons listened intently, hanging on his every word as he relayed exactly how awry his day had gone.

"final straw, and i will say i'm not proud of this... but... you know the teens that like hanging out in the woods, right? and if you don't know how hard my bro works on his puzzles, well, just ask him sometime... but those troublemakers decided to trash my brother's hard work right in front of him. it was totally rude. any other day maybe i coulda written it off, but my chill? gone. finito. i was gonna make 'em leave whether they wanted to or not, so i used a little blue magic to bring some snow down on their heads. it really put 'em on ice."

"It was frankly a little scary," Papyrus added, smiling nevertheless. "I don't think I can remember ever seeing my brother so angry, and that was how I realized he was having a terrible day. So! Being the clever and observant brother I am, we are now here at Grillby's telling the story of why we are at Grillby's!"

"yup. that's pretty much it."

"Wow Sans, that would do it," Red spoke as the others nodded. "I think anyone else would've lost it about halfway through. Even when you say you lost your cool... you still kept it longer than anyone else! You really are the king of chill!"

The bar pounded with approval, echoing the pounding persistent in his skull, but Sans was happy his friends had been entertained by the tale of his trials. He polished off the second burger someone had bought for him, feeling a bit better. Maybe the day hadn't been a total wash.

"My brother is the most patient person I know," Papyrus spoke up... proudly? Papyrus was proud of him for something? He kept going. "How he endures some things, I haven't a clue--and I'm sure, seeing as how we are very different people, that he endures a lot from me... But! That is what makes him the best brother I have!"

Sans was touched, but had to play it off. "listen papyrus, i don't know if anyone's told you... but i'm your only brother. i'm the best by default."

"Exactly!"

Sans chuckled to himself. Papyrus was patient in his own way. He certainly put up with a lot from him.... He still ought to do something nice for him sometime.

They left Grillby's sometime mid-afternoon; Sans still ached all over and could hardly keep his eyes open, but his soul felt a little better after good food and better company. Papyrus carried him home and set him on the couch, then sat beside him and heaved a sigh.

"I am sorry, once again, that you had such a terrible day, brother. No one should have such a thing happen to them! Had I known, I would never have allowed it!"

"eh... it just happens sometimes bro, you have your bad days too. i didn't want to bug anyone with it, but there's only so much a guy can take, i guess."

"I suppose that's true. Anyway, seeing as I did not have an incredibly unlucky string of events happen to me today, I still have things to attend to--will you be alright?"

"oh yeah, i'm fine bro, i just"--a yawn interrupted him--"really need a nap. i'm... pretty tired..."

Papyrus smiled. "I can tell. In that case I suppose I'll leave you to it."

"thanks bro," Sans murmured as he let his eyes close to finally get some rest. Just as he began to drift off, he felt the soft weight of a blanket drape over him. Man. Papyrus really was great.

His day could have gone better, but by all measures it hadn't ended too badly, and tomorrow's chances of being bad were pretty slim. He couldn't say he was looking forward to it, exactly, but he'd be glad to put this day behind him.

Finally, at long last, Sans fell asleep, and was not interrupted.


End file.
